This is an eclectic blog in which I discuss whatever in the world happens to be on my mind today.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Birds of 2015

One of my goals for 2016 is to work on improving my bird photography. I can't claim any outstanding shots of birds in 2015, which is one of the reasons I know I need to improve! The birds were there; I just didn't always capture them with my camera.

Nevertheless, good or bad, here are some of my favorite pictures that I featured in the blog throughout the year.

A regular visitor to the backyard in January was this Cooper's Hawk.

I photographed this Common Gallinule on a trip to Brazos Bend State Park in February.

By March, the American Goldfinches were beginning to get their new feathers, changing into their colorful courting duds.

In April, the first of the Baltimore Orioles showed up.

The Northern Mockingbird is always here, in May and throughout the year, the sentinel of the backyard.

A female Eastern Bluebird checking on her chicks in June.

Another permanent resident, the Blue Jay, in July.

By August, the first of the fall migrants were coming through. This Black-throated Green Warbler was one of them.

We had a constant stream of warblers, including this Wilson's, passing through the yard in September.

Wild Turkeys photographed in a previous October in Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.

Of course, House Sparrows are ubiquitous in November and every other month.

And in December, I featured this picture of a Red-breasted Merganser that I had photographed in the waters off of Corpus Christi in the previous March.

A year filled with birds - what could be better? The Earth has music for those who listen. I always listen to the birds.

12 comments:

I understand the urge to improve but I think you did right well! And I am learning bird species from you, so thank you. When I was growing up in New Jersey, the Baltimore Oriole was my favorite bird including their amazing hanging nests.

Your birds are marvelous, the birds of my childhood and youth that I no longer get to see. What a nostalgia trip for me! But no cardinal, sigh. You are fortunate to catch a hawk shot, I only see them high in the sky here.

My feeders have been positively overrun by titmice lately, but they are so quick,darting in to snatch a seed and darting out again, that it is very hard to get a usable picture of them. I love them anyway, even though they frustrate me.